Limit Cycles Bifurcating from the Period Annulus of Quasi-Homogeneous Centers

We provide upper bounds for the maximum number of limit cycles bifurcating from the period annulus of any homogeneous and quasi-homogeneous center, which can be obtained using the Abelian integral method of first order. We show that these bounds are the best possible using the Abelian integral method of first order. We note that these centers are in general non-Hamiltonian. As a consequence of our study we provide the biggest known number of limit cycles surrounding a unique singular point in terms of the degree n of the system for arbitrary large n.      

Extending Circle Mappings to the Annulus

We show that any monotone degree one C mapping of the circle can be realized as the induced mapping on the boundary by a C area preserving diffeomorphism of the open annulus. The circle mapping may have critical points, allowing the possibility of Denjoy behavior on the boundary.     

A Unified Study on the Cyclicity of Period Annulus of the Reversible Quadratic Hamiltonian Systems

The cyclicity of the period annulus of reversible quadratic Hamiltonian systems under quadratic perturbations was studied by several authors for different cases by using different methods. In this paper, we study this problem in a unified way.     

Analytic Solution of Boundary Value Problems for the Shakhov Equation with the Collision Frequency Proportional to the Molecule Velocity

The weak evaporation and temperature jump problems are solved analytically for the Shakhov kinetic equation with a collision frequency proportional to the molecular velocity. The expressions obtained are calculated numerically for the kinetic coefficients. The results obtained are compared with those obtained earlier.     

An Improved Upper Bound to Maximum Deflections of Elastic-Plastic Structures at Shakedown

ABSTRACT

A method is presented providing an upper bound to the maximum shakedown deflections for elastic-perfectly plastic structures. The influence of plastic zones is taken into account. Residual stresses required by the Melan theorem can be expressed in terms of stresses due to ideal plastic hinges and of stresses due to the finite extent of plastic zones. Making use of this fact a bound on the total energy dissipated in a shakedown process as well as a bound to the permanent displacement have been derived. This bound permits an estimate of the deflections at shakedown. Application of the method is illustrated by means of two examples.     

Quasiconvexity at the Boundary and the Nucleation of Austenite

Motivated by experimental observations of H. Seiner et al., we study the nucleation of austenite in a single crystal of a CuAlNi shape-memory alloy stabilized as a single variant of martensite. In the experiments the nucleation process was induced by localized heating and it was observed that, regardless of where the localized heating was applied, the nucleation points were always located at one of the corners of the sample—a rectangular parallelepiped in the austenite. Using a simplified nonlinear elasticity model, we propose an explanation for the location of the nucleation points by showing that the martensite is a local minimizer of the energy with respect to localized variations in the interior, on faces and edges of the sample, but not at some corners, where a localized microstructure, involving austenite and a simple laminate of martensite, can lower the energy. The result for the interior, faces and edges is established by showing that the free-energy function satisfies a set of quasiconvexity conditions at the stabilized variant in the interior, faces and edges, respectively, provided the specimen is suitably cut.     

Gradient Bounds for Elliptic Problems Singular at the Boundary

Let Ω be a bounded smooth domain in \({{R}^N, N \geqq 2}\), and let us denote by d(x) the distance function d(x, ?Ω). We study a class of singular Hamilton–Jacobi equations, arising from stochastic control problems, whose simplest model is

$ - \alpha \Delta u+ u + \frac{\nabla u \cdot B (x)}{d (x)}+ c(x) |\nabla u|^2=f (x) \quad {\rm in}\,\Omega, $

where f belongs to \({W^{1,\infty}_{\rm loc} (\Omega)}\) and is (possibly) singular at \({\partial \Omega, c\in W^{1,\infty} (\Omega)}\) (with no sign condition) and the field \({B\in W^{1,\infty} (\Omega)^N}\) has an outward direction and satisfies \({B\cdot \nu\geqq \alpha}\) at ?Ω (ν is the outward normal). Despite the singularity in the equation, we prove gradient bounds up to the boundary and the existence of a (globally) Lipschitz solution. We show that in some cases this is the unique bounded solution. We also discuss the stability of such estimates with respect to α, as α vanishes, obtaining Lipschitz solutions for first order problems with similar features. The main tool is a refined weighted version of the classical Bernstein method to get gradient bounds; the key role is played here by the orthogonal transport component of the Hamiltonian.

     

An Upper Bound Kinematic Approach to the Shakedown Analysis of Structures

A reduced but equivalent form of Koiter's upper bound kinematic theorem, which does not involve time integrals, is deduced, provided that the plastic strain rates at every point of a structure are confined to a certain number of possible directions in the strain space. Generally it yields an upper bound on the shakedown factor, which improves upon the previous one by Pham and Stumpf.Sommario. Una forma ridotta ma equivalente del teorema cinematica di Koiter sul limite superiore, che non coinvolge integrali temporali, viene dedotta sotto la condizione che le velocità di deformazione plastica in ogni punto della struttura siano confinate ad un certo numero di possibili direzioni nello spazio delle deformazioni. Generalmente, ciò produce un limite superiore sul fattore di shakedown, che migliora quello precedente di Pham e Stumpf.     

Statistical Structure at the Wall of the High Reynolds Number Turbulent Boundary Layer

The one and two-point statistical structure of very high Reynolds number turbulence in the surface layer near a rigid `wall' is analysed. The essential mechanisms for turbulent eddies impinging on the wall are studied using linearised rapid distortion theory, which show how the mean shear and blocking actions of the surface act first independently and then, over the life time of the eddy, interactively. Previous analytical results are reinterpreted and some new results are derived to show how the integral length scales, cross correlations and spectra of the different components of the turbulence are distorted depending on the form of the spectra of eddies above the surface layer and how they are related to motions of characteristic eddy structures near the surface. These results are applied to derive some quantitative and qualitative predictions in the surface layers (SL), where the eddies are affected by local shear dynamics, and in the `eddy surface layer' (ESL) where quasi independents loping elongated eddies interact directly with the wall, and where there is a large range of wave number within which the spectra of the horizontal velocity components are proportional to k ⁻¹. The longest eddies in the boundary layer occur near the wall. Field experiments agree with the theoretical model predictions for the quite different forms for the spectra, cospectra and cross correlations for the vertical and horizontal components of the velocity field. By showing that in SL the energy exchange between the large and small scale eddies is local(`staircase') energy cascade, whereas in ESL there is a direct nonlocal (`elevator-like')energy transfer to the small scales, it is shown why the thickness of the ESL increases over rougher surfaces and as the Reynolds number decreases. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Necessary Conditions at the Boundary for Minimizers in Incompressible Finite Elasticity

New necessary conditions for energy-minimizing states of an incompressible, elastic body are found. These must hold at boundary points at which dead-load traction data is prescribed.     

Quasiconvexity at the Boundary and a Simple Variational Formulation of Agmon's Condition

We study the question of positivity of quadratic funtionals which typically arise as the second variation at a critical point u of a functional. For interior points x₁∈ Ω rank-one convexity of C₀(x₁) is a necessary condition for u to be a local minimizer. For boundary points x₂∈ ∂ Ω where ϕ is allowed to vary freely the stronger condition of quasiconvexity at the boundary is necessary. For quadratic functionals this condition is roughly equivalent to rank-one convexity and Agmon's condition. We derive an equivalent condition on C₀(x₂) which is purely algebraic; and, moreover, it is variational in the sense that it can be formulated in terms of positive semidefiniteness of Hermitian matrices. A connection to the solvability of matrix-valued Riccati equations is established. Several applications in elasticity theory are treated. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Progress in Characterizing the Route to Geostrophic Turbulence and Redesigning Thermally Driven Rotating Annulus Experiments

In this paper we calculate Lyapunov exponents and adapt a diagnostic tool, originally used for another purpose by Lorenz (1969), to characterize the degree and nature of the chaotic behavior observed in a thermally driven rotating fluid annulus at different points in parameter space as a control parameter (the rotation rate) is varied over a significantly wide range. We also report on our initial progress toward making the annulus experiments more relevant to the behavior of baroclinic waves in Earth's atmosphere. Owing to the existence of a background potential vorticity gradient, baroclinic waves in the atmosphere propagate both meridionally and vertically and are not trapped as they are in conventional annulus experiments. Our approach involves the redesign of such experiments through the application of radiational heating from above to provide a background potential vorticity gradient on which baroclinic waves can travel. These experiments are in their earliest stage of design and implementation. If successful, they promise to provide a new paradigm for future experiments with thermally driven rotating fluids. Received 26 August 1996 and accepted 5 December 1996     

Receptivity of the Flat-Plate Boundary Layer to Free-Stream Turbulence

The linear problem of generation of perturbations of a flat-plate boundary layer by external turbulence is solved. The turbulence is represented in the form of a set of space- and time-periodic vortex modes. It is shown that the boundary layer is most receptive to low-frequency longitudinal vorticity modes. The mean-square velocity fluctuations in the boundary layer and their spectrum are found for isotropic turbulence with a spectrum satisfying the Kolmogorov-Obukhov law.     

Two-dimensional Hierarchical Models for Prismatic Shells with Thickness Vanishing at the Boundary

We construct variational hierarchical two-dimensional models for elastic, prismatic shells of variable thickness vanishing at boundary. With the help of variational methods, existence and uniqueness theorems for the corresponding two-dimensional boundary value problems are proved in appropriate weighted functional spaces. By means of the solutions of these two-dimensional boundary value problems, a sequence of approximate solutions in the corresponding three-dimensional region is constructed. We establish that this sequence converges in the Sobolev space H¹ to the solution of the original three-dimensional boundary value problem. Mathematics Subject Classifications (2000) 74K20, 74K25.     

Analytic Series Solution for Unsteady Mixed Convection Boundary Layer Flow Near the Stagnation Point on a Vertical Surface in a Porous Medium

In this paper, we solve the unsteady mixed convection flow near the stagnation point on a heated vertical flat plate embedded in a Darcian fluid-saturated porous medium by means of an analytic technique, namely the Homotopy Analysis Method. Different from previous perturbation results, our analytic series solutions are accurate and uniformly valid for all dimensionless times and for all possible values of mixed convection parameter, and besides agree well with numerical results. This provides us with a new analytic approach to investigate related unsteady problems.     

Averaging of a Layered Elastic Medium with Low Dynamic Dissipation at the Interlayer Boundary

Averaged relations for a layered medium with dynamic dissipation at the interlayer boundary are constructed for dynamic problems of longitudinal shear and twodimensional theory of elasticity. For low dissipation, the averaged boundaryvalue problem is shown to be singularly perturbed. The degeneration of the boundaryvalue problem is studied qualitatively.     

Boundary layer receptivity to the nonlinearly developing freestream turbulence

The turbulent-freestream-generated disturbances in the flat-plate boundary layer are studied. As distinct from the conventional representation of turbulence as superposition of exponentially decaying vortex disturbances frozen in the flow and satisfying the linearized Navier-Stokes equations, a model used takes account for their nonlinear development. Its basic features are the deviation of the phase velocity of vortex disturbances from the flow velocity and their slower decay. The model makes it possible to adequately describe the experimentally observable dependences of the velocity fluctuations in the boundary layer and their spectra on the stream wise coordinate.     

Receptivity of the Blunt-Leading-Edge Plate Boundary Layer to Unsteady Vortex Perturbations

The response of the boundary layer on a plate with a blunt leading edge to frozen-in vortex perturbations whose vorticity is normal to the plate surface is found. It is shown that these vortices generate an inhomogeneity of the streamwise velocity component in the boundary layer. This inhomogeneity is analogous to the streaky structure developing as the degree of free-stream turbulence increases. The dependence of the amplitude and shape of the boundary layer inhomogeneity on the distance from the leading edge, the streamwise and spanwise scales, and other parameters is found for periodic and local initial perturbations. It is shown that the receptivity of the boundary layer decreases with increase in the frequency and with decrease in the streamwise perturbation scale.     

Structures of Density Fluctuations at a Low-Mach-Number Turbulent Boundary Layer by DNS

We performed a direct numerical simulation of a low-Mach-number turbulent boundary layer using fundamental equations of compressible flow to investigate the relation between vortex structures and the density distribution. A fully developed turbulent boundary layer of compressible flow was reproduced in the simulation. From the turbulence statistics and instantaneous structures of the density fluctuation, we identified different features in the three regions of a near-wall field, far field and flow field outside the turbulent boundary layer. Structures of the density fluctuation could correspond to sound sources in a turbulent boundary layer. We then observed fine-scale structures of the density fluctuation that were strongly related to turbulent vortices in the vicinity of the wall. In addition, there were large-scale density structures in the upper boundary layer. The large-scale structures seem to correlate with the fine-scale structures close to the wall, with there being a non-steady larger-scale density fluctuation profile in the outer region of the boundary layer.